Manila - A homemade bomb exploded in a public market in the southern Philippines on Sunday, but no one was hurt in the attack blamed on Muslim separatist rebels, the military said.

The blast occurred before dawn when the market in Kiamba town in Sarangani province, 1,025 kilometres south of Manila, said army Major Edgardo De Leon.

"There was no casualty, so the attack was probably meant to terrorize," he said.

De Leon said Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels were suspected to be behind the bombing.

"The MILF has long been threatening to attack Kiamba," he said.

Major Armand Rico, a regional army spokesman, said an investigation was ongoing to determine who was behind the bombing.

"Troops have been dispatched to augment the local police security operations in the area," he said.

The bombing occurred as the military pressed on with an offensive against MILF rebels who launched a series of deadly attacks in the southern region of Mindanao last month.

More than 200 people, including nearly 70 civilians have been killed in the attacks and subsequent fighting between MILF rebels and the military. More than 500,000 have also been displaced.

The rebels launched the attacks after the Supreme Court stopped the signing of a territorial agreement that would have expanded an existing Muslim autonomous region in Mindanao.

The Philippine government eventually scrapped the controversial agreement on ancestral domain, amid opposition and warning that it could lead to the country's Balkanization.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has also dissolved the government's peace negotiating panel with the MILF and ruled out any immediate resumption in peace talks with the rebel group. (dpa)